Brining

Drew Belline, executive chef at No. 246 in Decatur has a tip for anyone roasting a chicken: first you should brine it.

Brining is important because it forces water into the muscle tissue if the chicken, and that moisture sticks around into the cooking process, making the resulting cooked chicken more moist and tender than an un-brined bird.

But brine is about more than salt and water. While cooking your bird with herbs will make your home smell delicious, brining with herbs gets the flavors of the herbs and seasonings into the fibers of the meat — and that will make your food taste delicious, too.